Guide

Military Minutes Explained

A chart that says 'military time with minutes' can mean two different things. One keeps the minutes; the other turns them into hundredths of an hour.

  • Reading time2 min
  • UpdatedSeptember 15, 2026
  • Sections4

Military time versus military minutes

Military time is the 24-hour clock. It changes only the hours: 4:40 pm becomes 1640, and the 40 minutes are the same 40 minutes. Military minutes is a payroll term for hundredths of an hour: the 40 minutes become .67, because 40 ÷ 60 = 0.667. Put the two together and 4:40 pm is written 1667.

That combined form is not hypothetical. The US Postal Service's Notice 30 time conversion table tells timekeepers to “use a combination of military time (for the hours) and decimal time (for the minutes)”, with 8:15 am = 0825 and 4:40 pm = 1667 as its own examples, and the Postal Service records clock rings in hundredths of an hour rather than minutes.

Chart: clock time, military time and military minutes

Clock timeMilitary time (hours changed)Military minutes (minutes changed too)
7:05 am07050708
8:15 am08150825
9:30 am09300950
11:45 am11451175
12:20 pm12201233
2:10 pm14101417
4:40 pm16401667
6:55 pm18551892
11:59 pm23592398

The middle column is what a 24-hour clock chart gives you. The right-hand column is what a payroll or postal record shows. Notice 1892 in the last rows: hundredths can exceed 59, clock minutes cannot.

Converting the minutes part

Divide the minutes by 60 and keep two decimal places, then write those two digits after the hour. Every sixth minute lands on a clean tenth:

Minutes61218243036424854
Hundredths.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.90

Every other minute rounds: 7 minutes is .12, 8 is .13, 53 is .88. The USPS time conversion chart lists all sixty and converts a clock time to the four-digit postal form; the minutes to decimal chart is the same hundredths table on its own.

Why a chart "with minutes" is ambiguous

A search for a military time chart with minutes can be after either column. If you are converting a shift for payroll, you want hundredths. If you are reading a 24-hour schedule, the minutes are unchanged and no conversion table is needed at all. The give-away is the range: a value ending in .60 to .99 has to be hundredths.

Frequently asked questions

Does the military itself use military minutes?

The 24-hour clock does not change the minutes at all: 16:40 has the same 40 minutes as 4:40 pm. "Military minutes" is a payroll nickname for hundredths of an hour, and the systems that use it are timekeeping systems, not the armed forces.

How do I read a four-digit postal time such as 1667?

The first two digits are the 24-hour hour, the last two are hundredths of that hour. 16 is 4 pm and .67 is 40 minutes, so 1667 is 4:40 pm.

Can military minutes go above 60?

Yes, and that is the quickest way to tell the two systems apart. Clock minutes stop at 59, but hundredths run to 99: 1892 is a valid postal time (6:55 pm) while 18:92 is not a valid clock time.